There are thousands of literary agents currently working in the publishing industry, and yet potential authors with manuscripts still outnumber those agents by almost twenty to one. The truth is that there are millions of people out there who feel they have the next great best seller and for every fresh new novel, there are only a handful of possible people who will read, review, and pass along the novel to a publishing house on your behalf. Finding those select few individuals and convincing them that your work is worthy of their time is the hardest part of getting your book published but if you can find and hire the right literary agent, you will be well on your way to getting your name in print and achieving literary stardom.
This book will guide you through the process of contacting a literary agent and convincing them that you are in fact the next great bestseller. From formatting a query letter to ensuring your manuscript looks presentable, every step of the process from inception to execution will be laid out in vivid detail for you. You will start by learning exactly what is expected of you by the literary field. You will learn how to research literary agents and what to look for in the right agent. You will learn how to identify genre and subset and how to understand what sells and what doesn't. With this in mind, you will be able to start the process of writing query letters, a complete process that is outlined from the first step to the signature line. You will learn what you must include in every successful manuscript and how to avoid ending up in a slush pile where your manuscript will not be read.
Both published writers who have successfully found and acquired an agent and literary agents who are inundated with manuscripts and requests in the thousands every year, have been interviewed for this book and have provided their personal stories, tips, and tricks as to how you can get into the publishing industry through an agent. You will be given a list of the top agencies in the nation with their genres of choice and represented clients as well as submission guidelines and will learn how to successfully stagger submissions at the right time of the year, month, and even week to be seen first and foremost. Finally, once you have found your literary agent, you will learn how to read contracts, accept offers, and understand what details will be handled exclusively by your agent. This book is for every prospective author who has sought to have their manuscript transformed into a printed book.
